Mum Invents Wristband To Help Lost Kids Find Parents

An enterprising mum has invented a wristband to help children find their parents when they get lost.

Mum-of-three Claire Bardner, 41, designed the wristband, which looks just like a digital watch, after her son Billy, now five, went missing at a football tournament.

It can store up to five telephone numbers, each accessed by pressing a button. When a button is pressed the number flashes up so an adult can contact the child's parents.

"It was an absolute nightmare when we lost Billy," Claire, 41, from Highgate, London, told the Evening Standard.

Clare Bardner

"But he now knows that if he can't find us he just has to find another mum or a shop assistant and they will be able to help him because he's got the phone numbers.

"After the incident with Billy it became a race against time.

"We started putting phone numbers in the children's pockets in case they got lost but the band has changed his behaviour.

Clare Bardner

"When parents see it they think it's a great idea, I'm very hopeful that 2012 will be the year that it'll take off.

i

Hopefully it will become a habit that a lot of parents will get into and save a lot of distress.

i

The former marketing worker's creation has already won five awards at the British Invention Show and the support of high-profile retail figures including Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of lingerie chains Ann Summers and Knickerbox.

The wristbands, which come in three different designs and cost £14.99, are currently only available from Claire's website and from airline Aer Lingus.